Could avoiding South Africa's 🇿🇦 Protection of Personal Information Act be one of the reasons why Truecaller selected Kenya 🇰🇪 for its head quarters?

The Truecaller Kenya MD Zakari Hersi reckons that they chose Kenya because if the usage habits, but the numbers on spam callers report by Truecaller show that South Africa, with it’s bigger market is a much more lucrative option than Kenya. South Africa is number 5 globally while Kenya is number 20. Egypt and Nigeria are there in between.

This ends with an argument that the reason they are avoiding South Africa could be the legislation there on data protection, something that is still in the drafts for Kenya, but is an existing law in South Africa.

In its current form, the Truecaller platform, app and processes flout some of South Africa’s current data protection and privacy laws as well as the yet-to-be-fully-implemented Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI) in South Africa. These laws, should someone (e.g. a person whose details are listed on Truecaller without their knowledge, permission or being notified) lay a case against the company, could see Truecaller being fined millions of dollars in some specific cases should they be found guilty in South Africa, such stringent measures don’t yet exist in Kenya.

The best way to understand TrueCaller’s decision to settle on a local HQ is to have a fine grasp of its business model.
Someone mentioned SA’s regulations restrict access to personal information, which is detrimental to modern tech businesses that value data more than money.
It is really that simple: station their base in a country with shaky regulations in terms of access to information, and sell what it gathers to telemarketing institutions.